


build me up, buttercup.

by sheehan_film



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 1960s, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dave & Klaus Hargreeves During Vietnam, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Military, Singing, Vietnam War, Wakes & Funerals, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:52:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheehan_film/pseuds/sheehan_film
Summary: dave's funeral leaves klaus confused and numb. he has no idea how he's supposed to cope. as he reflects on their relationship, klaus begins to sing.





	build me up, buttercup.

i didn't think about it too much when they lowered dave into the ground.  
no one cried. soldiers don't cry, even when one of their own gets slaughtered like cattle.  
the air was heavy with humidity, though. it felt like the atmosphere was holding back an onslaught of tears.  
at dave's expense, the sky wept more openly than any of us could. it wept for what the world was now lacking in his kindness and unconditional acceptance. it wept because he wasn't going home to his family.  
they covered him in parched soil and took him away from the sun. we gave him a moment of silence and then went back to base because that's what good soldiers do.  
i didn't know how to feel or act. it had to be the shock, all white-noise and a feeling like my entire body had fallen asleep rather than just my arm or my foot. shock wasn't the inability to feel for me so much as feeling too much at once and having it fizzle into something strange.  
myself and the rest of our squadron dispersed for the remaining few hours of daylight. dave's death had been especially hard on anyone who knew him.  
i had known him so well.  
walking to the edges of my temporary home, i moved to sit on the sparse grass cross-legged. hands on my kneecaps, helmet at my side, i just stared into the treeline for awhile.  
without much thought to it, i started to sing. it was as if something separate had taken over, and the lyrics of “build me up buttercup” by the foundations found its way onto my tongue.  
"why do you build me up, buttercup baby?"  
i wondered if he was in a lot of pain when he died. he had seemed incredibly focused on me in those last moments.  
"just to let me down. and mess me around."  
there was so much i hadn't told him. so many stories and so many ways to say that i loved him.  
"and then worst of all, you never call, baby, when you say you will."  
would i be able to contact him here? i hadn't given my abilities much notice since the briefcase had put me in vietnam.  
"but i love you still."  
through all of the mud and scars that the war had given us, we had meant more to each other. it made me wonder how living a life with him after this was all over would’ve been.  
"i need you. i need you more than anyone, darling. you know that i have from the start."  
he had been my guidance from the very beginning. neither of us had known much about how the military worked, but dave never gave up. and he always pushed me to be better.  
"build me up, buttercup. don't break my heart."  
when we had sang that song in the bar, dave and i had taken turns singing the chorus. he wasn't there to answer me now.  
the only response i got was the dry breeze. it sounded like it was going through bones.  
dave wasn't coming back.


End file.
